Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire  Review

Now and again we read something and have to stop for a moment to process it. Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire is just that. A mobile game similar in design to games such as Game of War or Mobile Strike in which you build an empire and tap the screen countless times. So as the Final Fantasy XV family continues to grow with a range of products, both large and small, the latest addition is by far the most out of place yet. Regardless, how does Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire hold up?

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire didn’t leave me with a positive first impression. The game starts with a number of tutorial pop-ups and adverts that set the tone right off the bat. There is no sense of fantasy to be had here with so much clutter defining the whole experience. What should be a mobile spin-off of the epic Final Fantasy XV is nothing more than a poorly skinned cash grab that honestly is more of an insult than anything.

So initial ranting aside what is the core gameplay loop within Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire? To be expected it is a continuous loop of tapping on buildings to upgrade and produce units, working through the horrible menus to select quests and clear notifications. Though you earn experience points and complete quests it never really feels like you are actually making any real progress in the game. This isn’t helped by the fact you will need to wait every now and again for your resources to refill. Sure, it allows Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire to be a game that you can pick up and play in small bursts, but for no real gain.

Then of course it is time for yet another pop-up suggesting you spend some real money. No, it’s okay I don’t mind not having VIP status. Oh I can’t build more than a few things at once unless I spend some real money? No! Stop it. I’ll just wait for a few hours and then come back for like two minutes. One of the only redeeming features are guilds as they allow you to earn rewards collectively and even help each other out with your building queue. If you stay with the game long enough you will get the chance to battle other empires but as you can guess they are not that special nor engaging.

So does Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire do anything worth your time? Honestly no, it doesn’t. Unless you are interested in a reskinned version of Clash of Clans that barely makes use of the Final Fantasy XV licence then this is for you and I’m sure there are plenty of you. If however you were hoping for an actual Final Fantasy XV mobile title then keep waiting because this is not the one. There isn’t anything here that hasn’t been done already so why it exists I do not know.

Now if you don’t mind me; I need to delete this trash off my phone.